Reactive oxygen species generation in yeast
Mitochondria have long been established as a major source of ROS (Longo et al.,
1996) such as the superoxide radical

which is generated from O
2 by electron leakage originating in the mitochondrial transport chain, during respiration. (Fridovich,
1998; Cadenas and Davies,
2000). In yeast species such as
S. cerevisiae, the specific sources of

in the mitochondrial chain include the external NADH dehydrogenases Nde1p and Nde2p (the active sites of which face the mitochondrial intermembrane space) and complex III (Fang and Beattie,
2003).
Although superoxide can directly inactivate certain proteins such as catalases (Kono and Fridovich,
1983; Fridovich,
1989) and dehydratases (Murakami and Yoshino,
1997), it is a relatively selective and unreactive ROS (Fridovich,
1998; Halliwell and Gutteridge,
2007). Nevertheless, the prompt and efficient removal of

from living cells is of great biological importance, given its tendency to generate H
2O
2 and subsequent, more harmful ROS (Fridovich,
1989; Gille and Sigler,
1995). In fact, studies have shown that

detoxification mechanisms such as the superoxide dismutase enzymes (SODs), are essential for survival of
S. cerevisiae against hyperoxia (Outten et al.,
2005). Recently

has also been implicated as a signaling molecule in yeast cell processes such as chronological aging (Weinberger et al.,
2010; Lewinska et al.,
2011).
Superoxide radical dismutation, which mainly occurs via enzymatic SOD activity, is a major source of H
2O
2
in vivo (McCord and Fridovich,
1969). In yeast, H
2O
2 is also generated by
d-amino acid oxidases, peroxisomal acyl-coenzyme A oxidases (Halliwell and Cross,
1994; Herrero et al.,
2008), and protein folding events in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER; Gross et al.,
2006). Like

H
2O
2 is relatively unreactive (Gille and Sigler,
1995; Halliwell and Gutteridge,
2007) but can also travel long distances and penetrate biological membranes, allowing it to exert oxidative damage in locations far from its point of origin (Saran and Bors,
1991). It is also a signaling molecule in mammals (Sundaresan et al.,
1995), plants (Vergara et al.,
2012), and yeast (Bienert et al.,
2006; Bartosz,
2009). In fact, H
2O
2 signaling activates transcription factors that regulate antioxidant gene expression in yeast (Wemmie et al.,
1997; Delaunay et al.,
2000,
2002; Kuge et al.,
2001). This is believed to take place primarily via the direct oxidation and concomitant functional alteration of redox-sensitive thiol peroxidases (Fomenko et al.,
2011). Furthermore, pre-treatment with 150

μM H
2O
2 enhances the sensitivity of budding yeast cells to heat stress, suggesting that ROS (presumably H
2O
2) relay signals induced by heat stress to yeast heat shock transcription factors that initiate the heat shock response (Moraitis and Curran,
2004).
Both

and H
2O
2 can combine to form the hydroxyl radical

via the Fenton and Haber–Weiss reactions catalyzed by free metal cations such as those of iron (Fe; Haber and Weiss,
1934). Ferrous Fe
2+ ions are oxidized to ferric Fe
3+ ions by H
2O
2 to produce

These Fe
3+ ions can be reduced again by

resulting in a reaction cycle capable of generating an infinite supply of

The

radical is an exceedingly powerful oxidant which indiscriminately oxidizes cell biomolecules at a diffusion-limited rate (Fridovich,
1989,
1998). Biomolecules oxidized by

can become radicals themselves, which propagate even further non-specific cell oxidative damage (Evans et al.,
1998). In fact, most oxidative damage in cells is mediated by

, which is far more toxic than its precursors

and H
2O
2, the impact of which mainly lies in their propensity to form

(Halliwell and Cross,
1994).
The nitric oxide radical

is another important free radical species associated with oxidative damage in organisms. Upon reacting with

it produces peroxynitrite (ONOO
−), a strongly oxidizing reactive nitrogen species (RNS) which can generate further radicals such as

(Beckman et al.,
1990) and induce oxidation of proteins and nucleic acids (Radi,
2004; Poyton et al.,
2009). The

radical has also been linked to increased ROS generation and cell death in
S. cerevisiae, where endogenous

generated by

synthase-like activity (Osório et al.,
2007), was found to induce ROS accumulation and apoptosis in yeast cells treated with H
2O
2 (Almeida et al.,
2007). Importantly, this was also accompanied by S-nitrosation of the glycolytic glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH; Almeida et al.,
2007). Given that S-nitrosation, defined as the covalent attachment of

to the cysteine thiol groups of target proteins, is a mechanism by which

regulates varied cellular processes in organisms (Hess et al.,
2005), these observations also exemplify the role of

radicals as signaling molecules (Almeida et al.,
2007).
Under normoxic conditions, cells can very efficiently prevent ROS accumulation and attenuate oxidative damage, using various defensive strategies and antioxidants. However, environmental conditions can undergo frequent changes, such as progressive depletion of nutrients, increases in ambient temperature, or sudden xenobiotic contamination. Regardless of their nature, such environmental changes invariably cause an element of stress to organisms, to which they must effectively adapt in order to survive. This stress is frequently associated with ROS (Avery,
2011), which either deplete functional antioxidants or induce further ROS accumulation, or both (Costa and Moradas-Ferreira,
2001).
For instance, UVA radiation (Kozmin et al.,
2005) and cadmium (Brennan and Schiestl,
1996) cause oxidative damage or outright deletion of genes in yeast cells. Deletion or impairment of genes associated with antioxidant enzymes such as manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) causes increased mitochondrial protein oxidation (O’Brien et al.,
2004) and loss of viability of respiring stationary phase cells (Longo et al.,
1996). Also, prooxidant xenobiotics, including aminotriazole (AMT) and diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC), directly inactivate catalase (Bayliak et al.,
2008) and CuZnSOD (Lushchak et al.,
2005), respectively, sensitizing yeast to oxidative stress (Lushchak,
2010). Redox-cycling xenobiotics, such as paraquat and menadione, stimulate superoxide production in yeast by accepting electrons from cellular reducers and transferring them to oxygen (Lushchak,
2010). Other environmental stimuli such as heat stress (Davidson et al.,
1996), ethanol-induced diauxic shift (Drakulic et al.,
2005), H
2O
2 (Madeo et al.,
1999), acetic acid (Ludovico et al.,
2001), cadmium (Brennan and Schiestl,
1996), and arsenic (Du et al.,
2007) amongst several other agents, can all induce ROS accumulation in yeast.